The woman, who was unharmed, went to the police – who published photographs showing the suspect swaggering along East 54th Street, minutes after the attack. The young black man is wearing a black sleeveless vest, black trousers and a hat.

Prosecutors claimed that Xhelili shouted Islamophobic abuse at the woman, telling them: “Get the f--- out of here. Get the f--- out of America b----s … This is America — you shouldn’t be different from us."

She was arrested around half an hour after the alleged assault, after the two women pointed her out to police officers. She was later arraigned on a charge of misdemeanor assault as a hate crime at Brooklyn Criminal Court.

“She didn’t even care for the well-being of a baby — that’s how serious this hate crime is,” Kelli Muse, the assistant district attorney, told the court. “She continued to taunt the victims in front of police while in custody, saying ‘You guys don’t belong here.”

Xhelili was held on $50,000 (£37,500) bond or $25,000 cash bail.

She had posted numerous anti-Muslim comments on her Facebook page, including one the day before the alleged attack, saying: “From this moment on, every woman that waers (sic) the jihab/hijab will go to hell!! I cant stand you f---ing hypocrites. You have been warned."